Page 15 of I Hate Myself for Loving You
She was feeling very naughty this morning.
But there would be no more encounters of the sexual kind, Miss I Want A Piece of That, she reminded herself.
Her resolve this morning was stronger than ever.
And the view that assaulted her eyes as Hector pulled her toward the clearing where she and Lassiter had banged each other senseless made that resolve weaken.
“See, A? I can’t believe you did it. After last night, when you were throwing stuff around and hacking up wood, I didn’t think you could do it. But you did! It’s really great, Avery. Thank you. All of my bunnies thank you.”
Oh, my.
Well, there it was in all its glory.
A bunny hut to rival the Taj Mahal.
It really was quite a sight with its multi-level tiers and chicken wire sides.
Lassiter. He’d done this and Avery was baffled. What kind of a man, who willingly killed wildlife on a regular basis, built a bunny hut?
Hector scooped her up in a hug. “Thank you, Avery. I love it.”
Avery rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It…it wasn’t me, Hector. I sucked at trying to make the bunny hut. I mean, I cut things wrong and in general made a big mess of things. I didn’t do this.”
I did, however, have an orgasm of cosmic proportions because of it.
His head cocked in confusion. “Then who did?”
Rolling her eyes, she had to give kudos where they were due. “I think it was Lassiter…”
“Wow-wow-wow. He really digs you,” Hector fairly squealed his delight.
“No, no he doesn’t. I think he digs you, Hector. Or at least, he was trying to help you. Definitely not me.” It was so much like the Lassiter of old to do something like this. She had no other explanation.
Unless…
Unless he was going to take some ghoulish pleasure out of knocking the hut down when he trampled all over the rest of Adams land…
The fuck.
“Avery.” Hector’s tone held a warning. “I see your wheels turning. Don’t do it! It always gets you in trouble!”
Hector’s voice became a muffled haze, rather like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Her anger soared and her mouth began before she was even at his trailer door.
“Lassiter! Get out here, you animal murderer! Destructor of all things sacred! I know what you’re up to and it isn’t going to wor?—”
Hector slapped a hand over Avery’s mouth with a clap. “Avery Palmer, shut up!”
Her eyes opened wide with surprise while Hector dragged her backward, his arms like steel bands around her, leaving her immobile. “Mmmmm,” she protested against his big hand.
“I said shut up, Avery. Sometimes a gift is just that. A gift. It doesn’t have to have any ulterior motive behind it. If Lassiter did this, and I can’t think of whom else might have, then fine. I’ll say thank you myself. You keep your big, out of control mouth shut. It might work when you’re fighting bad guys who kill little animals for profit, but it isn’t always necessary. You’re so ‘rage against the machine’ all the time, Avery. Like everything is a big conspiracy or something. Chill out.” Hector let her go with a slight shove and put his finger to his lips. “Now, shhh.”
Rage against the machine? The world had gone mad and forgotten to send her the memo. Who was this Hector, all reasonable and forgiving of a man who wanted to trash his home? “He’s trying to tear up the very land this hut is built on, Hector,” she protested yet again, albeit weakly—quietly.
“You know what, A? I don’t know that I’m so sure of that anymore. I know you think he built this so he could take some sort of sick pleasure in tearing it down when he builds his condos, but I just don’t believe that anymore. I think he built it to impress you. I think it’s his olive branch to you.”
Yeah, and Avery would bet he hoped the branch had thorns on it so he could stick it up her ass.
Clucking her tongue, she shook her head. “I doubt that, Hector.”
